Jet skis are motorized water sport devices which are typically used for recreation, emergency rescue and lake patrol purposes on large, publicly accessible bodies of water, such as lakes. Many jet skis are designed to seat multiple persons on a tandem seat portion of the jet ski. A driver is seated at the front of the jet ski facing the controls with passengers seated in a row behind the driver.
The passenger seated at the back of a jet ski is vulnerable to falling backwards off the jet ski during operation of the jet ski. A passenger at the rear of the jet ski has little to hold onto while the jet ski is being operated. Typically, a rear passenger holds onto the person seated in front of them to keep from being dislodged from the jet ski. However, a rear passenger may be thrown from the jet ski since jet skis can accelerate quickly, are capable of making quick, sharp turns, and can attain relatively high rates of speed.
Fixed back rests have been attached to multiple passenger jet skis behind the seat to reduce the likelihood of a rear passenger falling backwards off the jet ski. Although a fixed back rest helps protect the rear passenger, it also hinders rider attempts to mount a jet ski, particularly if a rider is attempting to board the jet ski from within the water. Riders (both driver and passengers) often fall into the water from a jet ski during normal operation of the jet ski. For example, the jet ski may tip when a sharp turn is executed and may cause a rider to fall into the water. Boarding a jet ski from within the water is easiest from the rear of the jet ski since the jet ski does not tip much when boarded from the rear. However, a fixed back rest blocks reboarding attempts from the rear of a jet ski. The dislodged rider is faced with attempting to climb over the fixed back rest, or attempting to board the jet ski from the side. Climbing over a tall back rest is difficult because the rider presents a high center of gravity that makes the jet ski tippy. Side boarding is difficult because a jet ski will tip excessively towards the side the rider is attempting to board.
What is needed, therefore, is an adjustable back rest that extends upwards behind the seat of a jet ski when a rear passenger is seated on the jet ski to reduce the likelihood of the rear passenger falling backwards off the jet ski but which may be lowered when a rider needs to board the jet ski from the rear.